Last year's price drop had big dollar impact

Submitted by admin on Thu, 05/06/2010 - 07:27

Hoard's Dairyman:

Last year's price drop had big dollar impact

Date:

Thu, 05/06/2010

There was a 30 percent drop in the value of milk marketed by dairy farmers last year, according to the USDA-NASS publication, Milk Production, Disposition, and Income released last week. That was a drop of more than $10.5 billion. The value of milk and cream sold in 2008 was $34.85 billion. The number for 2009 was $24.34 billion. The value in 2008 was down just slightly from the $35.48 billion for 2007.

During 2009, the average All-Milk Price, according to the report, was $12.93 per hundredweight. That was down $5.52 per hundredweight from 2008's $18.45.

Ten states reported a manufacturing milk price. They were California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The average manufacturing milk price was $12.03 per hundredweight, and the average fluid grade price was $12.94. Ninety-eight percent of the milk supply last year was fluid grade.

The average fat test of milk marketed in 2009 was 3.67. It was 3.68 in both 2007 and 2008.

Total milk production last year was 189.3 billion pounds. However, when you take out milk fed to calves, that produced by institutional herds, and that sold directly to consumers, actual milk

marketings for 2009 were 188.3 billion pounds. That compares to 188.9 billion pounds marketed the year before.